Originally added on 13th February 2013
Last updated on 26th October 2017

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." Ralph Waldo Emerson

"We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." Viktor Frankl

Originally added on 26th February 2009
Last updated on 26th February 2009

Here are five papers on lifestyle and the benefits of making healthy choices. The first by Cohen et al on sleep habits and susceptibility to the common cold, showed increased risk of developing a cold after infection for those with shorter sleep duration. Interestingly the increased risk was even greater for those with poor sleep efficiency. Sleep efficiency is calculated by dividing the time spent asleep by the time spent in bed trying to sleep. The Good Knowledge section of this website contains useful information on assessing and treating sleep difficulties.

Originally added on 19th February 2009
Last updated on 20th February 2009

Here are half a dozen papers with anxiety relevance. The first couple are about the interaction between genetic vulnerability (or resilience) and childhood experience. The Stevens et al paper is an update on the large body of research looking at psychological genetic vulnerability/resilience in macaque monkeys and how this interacts with parenting quality to lead, or not lead, to emotional and neurophysiological disturbances in adulthood. The Battaglia paper particularises this gene/environment investigation by looking at the connections between early human childhood separation anxiety, loss of a parent, and panic disorder in adulthood.

Originally added on 8th January 2009
Last updated on 11th January 2009

Here are two papers on mindfulness and four on sleep. The Kuyken et al paper is important. It compares mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) with continuation antidepressants in the prevention of relapse in recurrent depression. The results are great - "Relapse/recurrence rates over 15-month follow-ups in MBCT were 47%, compared with 60% in the m-ADM (maintenance antidepressant) group (hazard ratio = 0.63; 95% confidence interval: 0.39 to 1.04). MBCT was more effective than m-ADM in reducing residual depressive symptoms and psychiatric comorbidity and in improving quality of life in the physical and psychological domains." I have been cautious in my enthusiasm for MBCT (see previous post) but this is exactly the kind of research that we need to help clarify MBCT's potential further. The second paper on mindfulness is lower key. It is a mention of its potential in enhancing sexuality. It makes sense - see last month's posts on the effects of meditation training on experiencing positive emotions - but the relevant research is still in its early stages.

Originally added on 27th November 2008
Last updated on 30th November 2008

Here are a couple of studies on smoking, a couple on B vitamins, a couple on vitamin D, and an intriguing study on iron. The smoking papers underline the varieties of damage this habit produces. So the Pasco et al study shows that, for women, being a smoker is associated with double the risk of developing subsequent major depression. The Strandberg research challenges any notion of "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die". This study of 1658 men reports that "During the 26-year follow-up of this socioeconomically homogeneous male cohort, HRQoL (quality of life) deteriorated with an increase in daily cigarettes smoked in a dose-dependent manner.